The Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican (Italian: Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply St. Peter’s Basilica (Latin: Basilica Sancti Petri), is an Italian Renaissance church in Vatican City, the papal enclave within the city of Rome.

Designed principally by Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Peter’s is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and the largest church in the world. While it is neither the mother church of the Catholic Church nor the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, St. Peter’s is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines. It has been described as “holding a unique position in the Christian world” and as “the greatest of all churches of Christendom”.

Catholic tradition holds that the Basilica is the burial site of Saint Peter, chief among Jesus’s Apostles and also the first Bishop of Rome. Saint Peter’s tomb is supposedly directly below the high altar of the Basilica. For this reason, many Popes have been interred at St. Peter’s since the Early Christian period, and there has been a church on this site since the time of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great. Construction of the present basilica, which would replace Old St. Peter’s Basilica from the 4th century AD, began on 18 April 1506 and was completed on 18 November 1626.

St. Peter’s is famous as a place of pilgrimage and for its liturgical functions. The Pope presides at a number of liturgies throughout the year, drawing audiences of 15,000 to over 80,000 people, either within the Basilica or the adjoining St. Peter’s Square. St. Peter’s has many historical associations, with the Early Christian Church, the Papacy, the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-reformation and numerous artists, especially Michelangelo. As a work of architecture, it is regarded as the greatest building of its age. St. Peter’s is one of the four churches in the world that hold the rank of Major Basilica, all four of which are in Rome. Contrary to popular misconception, it is not a cathedral because it is not the seat of a bishop; the Cathedra of the Pope as Bishop of Rome is in the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran.

梵蒂岡的聖彼得教皇大教堂 (義大利文: 梵蒂岡聖皮埃特羅大教堂), 或簡單的聖彼得大教堂 (拉丁語: 大教堂聖佩特裡), 是義大利文藝復興時期的教堂在梵蒂岡, 羅馬市內的教皇飛地。

主要由多納托·布拉曼特、米開朗基羅、卡洛·馬德諾和吉安·洛倫佐·貝尼尼設計, 是文藝復興時期建築中最著名的作品, 也是世界上最大的教堂。雖然它既不是天主教會的母教堂, 也不是羅馬教區的大教堂, 但聖彼得教堂被認為是最神聖的天主教聖地之一。它被描述為 “在基督教” , 是 “基督教世界所有教會中最偉大的”。

天主教傳統認為, 大教堂是聖彼得的墓地, 是耶穌使徒中的首領, 也是羅馬的第一位主教。聖彼得的陵墓被認為就在大教堂的祭壇正下方。由於這個原因, 許多教皇從基督教早期開始就被安葬在聖彼得教堂, 自從羅馬皇帝君士坦丁大帝時代以來, 這裡就有一座教堂。目前的大教堂將取代西元4世紀的老聖彼得大教堂, 建于 1506年4月18日, 1626年11月18日完工。

聖彼得教堂以其禮拜活動的功能而聞名。教皇全年主持一些禮拜儀式, 吸引了 15, 000 至 80, 000多人參加, 無論是在大教堂還是在毗鄰的聖彼得廣場。聖彼得有許多歷史聯繫, 早期基督教會、教皇、新教改革和天主教反改革以及許多演出者, 特別是米開朗基羅。作為一部建築作品, 它被認為是這個時代最偉大的建築。聖彼得教堂是世界上擁有大教堂大教堂軍銜的四個教堂之一, 這四個教堂都在羅馬。與流行的誤解相反, 它不是一座大教堂, 因為它不是主教的所在地;教皇的教堂作為羅馬主教在聖約翰拉特蘭的大主教區。

Overview

St. Peter’s is a church built in the Renaissance style located in the Vatican City west of the River Tiber and near the Janiculum Hill and Hadrian’s Mausoleum. Its central dome dominates the skyline of Rome. The basilica is approached via St. Peter’s Square, a forecourt in two sections, both surrounded by tall colonnades. The first space is oval and the second trapezoid. The façade of the basilica, with a giant order of columns, stretches across the end of the square and is approached by steps on which stand two 5.55 metres (18.2 ft) statues of the 1st-century apostles to Rome, Saints Peter and Paul.

The basilica is cruciform in shape, with an elongated nave in the Latin cross form but the early designs were for a centrally planned structure and this is still in evidence in the architecture. The central space is dominated both externally and internally by one of the largest domes in the world. The entrance is through a narthex, or entrance hall, which stretches across the building. One of the decorated bronze doors leading from the narthex is the Holy Door, only opened during jubilees.

St Peter’s, Bernini’s colonnade and Maderno’s fountain
The interior is of vast dimensions when compared with other churches. One author wrote: “Only gradually does it dawn upon us – as we watch people draw near to this or that monument, strangely they appear to shrink; they are, of course, dwarfed by the scale of everything in the building. This in its turn overwhelms us.”

The nave which leads to the central dome is in three bays, with piers supporting a barrel-vault, the highest of any church. The nave is framed by wide aisles which have a number of chapels off them. There are also chapels surrounding the dome. Moving around the basilica in a clockwise direction they are: The Baptistery, the Chapel of the Presentation of the Virgin, the larger Choir Chapel, the Clementine Chapel with the altar of Saint Gregory, the Sacristy Entrance, the left transept with altars to the Crucifixion of Saint Peter, Saint Joseph and Saint Thomas, the altar of the Sacred Heart, the Chapel of the Madonna of Colonna, the altar of Saint Peter and the Paralytic, the apse with the Chair of Saint Peter, the altar of Saint Peter raising Tabitha, the altar of the Archangel Michael, the altar of the Navicella, the right transept with altars of Saint Erasmus, Saints Processo and Martiniano, and Saint Wenceslas, the altar of Saint Basil, the Gregorian Chapel with the altar of the Madonna of Succour, the larger Chapel of the Holy Sacrament, the Chapel of Saint Sebastian and the Chapel of the Pietà. At the heart of the basilica, beneath the high altar, is the Confessio or Chapel of the Confession, in reference to the confession of faith by St. Peter, which led to his martyrdom. Two curving marble staircases lead to this underground chapel at the level of the Constantinian church and immediately above the purported burial place of Saint Peter.

The entire interior of St. Peter’s is lavishly decorated with marble, reliefs, architectural sculpture and gilding. The basilica contains a large number of tombs of popes and other notable people, many of which are considered outstanding artworks. There are also a number of sculptures in niches and chapels, including Michelangelo’s Pietà. The central feature is a baldachin, or canopy over the Papal Altar, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The sanctuary culminates in a sculptural ensemble, also by Bernini, and containing the symbolic Chair of Saint Peter.

One observer wrote: “St Peter’s Basilica is the reason why Rome is still the center of the civilized world. For religious, historical, and architectural reasons it by itself justifies a journey to Rome, and its interior offers a palimpsest of artistic styles at their best …”

The American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson described St. Peter’s as “an ornament of the earth … the sublime of the beautiful.

概述

聖彼得教堂是一座以文藝復興風格建造的教堂, 位於台伯河以西的梵蒂岡, 靠近日庫隆山和哈德良陵墓。它的中央圓頂佔據了羅馬的天際線。大教堂是通過聖彼得廣場接近的, 聖彼得廣場是兩個部分的前院, 都被高大的柱廊包圍。第一個空間是橢圓形的, 第二個是梯形的。大教堂的正面, 有一個巨大的柱順序, 延伸到廣場的盡頭, 並通過臺階接近, 站在兩個5.55 米 (18.2 英尺) 的雕像, 1世紀的使徒羅馬, 聖彼得和保羅。

大教堂的形狀是十字形的, 在拉丁交叉的形式拉長的中殿, 但早期的設計是一個中央計畫的結構, 這仍然是在建築中的證據。中央空間由世界上最大的圓頂之一外部和內部控制。入口是通過一個納瑟克斯, 也就是入口大廳, 延伸到大樓對面。從旁白上通往的裝飾青銅門之一是聖門, 直到歡慶期間才打開。

聖彼得, 貝尼尼的柱廊和馬德諾的噴泉
與其他教堂相比, 內部是廣闊的尺寸。一位作者寫道: “只有逐漸地, 它才會出現在我們身上–當我們看著人們靠近這座或那座紀念碑時, 奇怪的是, 他們似乎在退縮;當然, 他們對大樓裡所有東西的規模都顯得微不足道。這反過來壓倒了我們。

通往中央圓頂的中殿在三個海灣, 碼頭支撐著一個桶庫, 是所有教堂中最高的。中殿是由寬闊的過道, 其中有許多教堂。圓頂周圍也有教堂。在教堂周圍順時針方向移動, 他們是: 浸禮會, 聖母介紹教堂, 更大的合唱團教堂, 克萊門汀教堂與聖葛列格里的祭壇, 聖堂入口, 左橫樑與祭壇到聖彼得、聖約瑟夫和聖托馬斯的十字架, 聖心的祭壇, 科隆納聖母院的教堂, 聖彼得和殘奧會的祭壇, 聖彼得的椅子, 聖彼得撫養塔比薩的祭壇, 聖彼得的祭壇, 阿爾克的祭壇漢塞爾·邁克爾, 納維切拉的祭壇, 右門與聖伊拉斯穆斯, 聖普羅佩索和馬丁尼亞諾祭壇, 聖瓦茨拉夫, 聖巴西爾的祭壇, 葛列格里安教堂與麥當娜的聖教堂, 更大的聖教堂聖禮, 聖塞巴斯蒂安教堂和皮埃塔教堂。在大教堂的中心, 在高祭壇下, 是懺悔的自白或教堂, 指的是聖彼得的信仰告白, 導致他的殉難。兩個彎曲的大理石樓梯通向這個地下教堂, 在君士坦丁教堂的層面上, 就在聖彼得所謂的墓地上方。

整個聖彼得教堂的內部裝飾著大理石、浮雕、建築雕塑和鍍金。大教堂裡有大量的教皇和其他名人的墳墓, 其中許多被認為是傑出的藝術品。這裡還有許多雕塑, 包括米開朗基羅的皮耶塔。其核心特徵是由吉安·洛倫佐·貝尼尼設計的教皇祭壇上的巴達欽, 或樹冠。聖所的高潮是一個雕塑合奏, 也是由貝尼尼, 並包含了象徵性的聖彼得主席。

一位觀察家寫道: “聖彼得大教堂是為什麼羅馬仍然是文明世界的中心的原因。出於宗教、歷史和建築的原因, 它本身就證明了去羅馬的旅程是合理的, 它的內部提供了最古老的藝術風格在他們最好的…… “

美國哲學家拉爾夫·沃爾多·愛默生形容聖彼得是 “地球的裝飾..。